Flooding Causes Power Outage at Willis Tower

Published May 18, 2020•Updated on May 18, 2020 at 10:20 am

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Flooding overnight caused a power outage at the Willis Tower and the surrounding block.

ComEd was notified about 2 a.m. that flooding on Lower Wacker Drive had affected a substation serving the tower, 233 S. Wacker Drive, spokesman Tom Dominguez said. The block the tower is on is also affected, but no other outages were reported in the area.

Chicago police said the antennas atop the tower are not lit because of the outage, and that O’Hare and Midway airports and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified.

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Crews are at the scene, but will be unable to access the substation to make repairs until the water levels recede, Dominguez said. ComEd is evaluating the possibility of bringing in a generator to restore power until the substation is back online.

Dominguez said city officials have opened locks to reverse the flow of the Chicago River so the excess water can flow into Lake Michigan.

Emergency crews used the building’s stair wells to take tenants affected by the outage out of the building, according to police and ComEd.